Broken Wolf
by The Sanguine Coloured Panther
Summary: Post JE- Having been left with a human version of the universe's 'saviour' Rose soon discovers that this Doctor is not quite as loving as his Time-Lord counterpart. She quickly tries to escape. At the same time, the Doctor finds an old enemy.
1. Some say the World will end in fire

_**Some say the world will end in fire; **_

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS into the somewhat hated and dreary city of Cardiff and blinked in surprise at the man standing in front of him.

"Wilfred! Great to see you."

The older man clearly didn't recognise him and merely gazed back. Of course by this point the ever curious Amy Pond had followed him out (tailed by her faithful husband) and the Doctor cringed as he heard the loud American voice comment on her perpetual wardrobe choice of short skirts short and leggings.

"Well someone has been chasing some skirt. I'm Captain Jack Harkness and who are _you_?"

The Doctor had been so overjoyed to see his unofficially adopted father that he had not noticed the presence of Jack, or the other two surrounding the TARDIS, effectively locking it in place with some box like mechanisms. He should have guessed that if he came to charge the TARDIS in their time they would catch him, since left behind companions- even if they left- always seemed to want to talk to him.

"Knock it off Captain Cheesecake." Mickey turned to Amy, and Rory, and Amy looked at him. Mickey, Martha, Wilf and Jack followed her gaze.

"You didn't." Jack accuse him, caution evident in his eyes.

"Ah, yes I did. Obviously. Since you can see it."

"God, you still ramble on a bit." Martha said, almost laughing at him, except for the tense posture. Jack was about to complain to him when Mickey cut in.

"You could be the Emperor of the Daleks for all I care, where the hell is Rose?" Mickey clearly thought, since the last time he saw the Doctor he just got Rose back and she had declared her intentions to stay with him, that Rose would be there.

The Doctor had never been even remotely anxious to the thought of anything Rose's human ex-boyfriend, more commonly known as Ricky the Idiot, could do to him, but now this man was up on the Most Feared List with Jackie Tyler. Nowhere near that high though, maybe around Dalek level. They noticed his pale face and Martha moved to give him a hug and he didn't resist, causing her some worry.

"Who's Rose?" Amy asked, sealing his fate. He knew that Jack would hate him for two reasons over this; first, he loved Rose like a little sister and the idea that the Doctor had seemed to forget her like he had left Jack behind was salt on old wounds. Jack always understood how Martha could not like Rose, seeing as he was in love with the Doctor as well, and was usually put on the back-burner in favour of her, but he knew her and so realised she didn't know how much the Doctor loved her. Secondly, the Captain had always harboured a hope, however irrational, that Rose would be able to reverse his curse or everlasting life; no matter how many times the Doctor had told him otherwise. If Rose wasn't with the Doctor than he had no chance.

Jack stared at her for a moment before punching him in the face.


	2. Some say in Ice

_**Some say in ice.**_

When he came to, the Doctor noticed he was in an apartment, looking over Roald Dahl Plaza with the TARDIS sitting in the middle. He was slightly worried until he remembered what had happened. The he quickly escalated to terrified. Jack and Mickey were going to kill him, more and more painfully the more they talked to Rory and Amy. He turned and noticed Martha sitting by his bedside- examining her nails and completely ignoring him.

"Rory and Mickey are getting along well, but Rory shot Jack when he kissed Amy. It took him a while to wake up the first time, but then Amy shot him when he woke up and told her she wasn't as good as Rose. The second time it took longer to convince them he was harmless. As harmless as Jack ever is anyway." Martha stood. "Come on, you get to tell everyone everything, including the whole new look."

"Doc!"Jack approached him, examining his black eye while looking half proud and half apologetic. The Doctor decided against correcting his name while Jack was still angry at him, lest Jack decide to use his vast experience of dying against him. "How about you start this clearly epic tale with the whereabouts of my favourite blonde?"

"With Human me and Jackie."

They all stared at him, including Amy and Rory.

"Who is Rose though? They," a thumb jerk at his old companions- it was then he noticed Wilf's absence- she scowled at them before turning back to him with a pleading expression. He sighed, his face drooping.

"Rose was- is," He changed quickly, fiercely sure of her existence. He wouldn't, couldn't, believe she had died. "my friend."

"Best friend." Mickey added, laughing at him.

"Girl friend." Martha added. The Doctor supposed she may have got that impression. He couldn't remember ever telling her otherwise. Jack shook his head at the couple, smiling sadly.

"She was his plus one."

Amy looked somewhat shocked and more than a little bit confused.

"What about River?"

Mickey snorted rather rudely at her. "Might as well say what about Reinette. The Doctor picks up girls faster than Jack picks up anyone. Blonds especially."

"Joan wasn't blond." Martha pointed out in an especially spiteful voice. Clearly she was still resentful over that particular adventure. He flinched.

"Yeah, but Lynda-with-a-Y was. Besides, Joan was human him. Human him clearly wasn't old and knowledgeable enough to know that blonds are best. So he might prefer brunettes." Martha nodded at Jack's twisted logic while Mickey paled.

"If the human Doctor has different tastes, so to speak, then what if he doesn't love Rose?" He glared at the Doctor. He shuddered but thankfully Martha kept her wits and came to his rescue.

"Human Doctor only fell in love with Joan because he though Rose was lost. He still remembered every detail of her, even though he forgot me completely."

"I didn't forget you!" The Doctor protested. Martha raised an eyebrow. "I didn't! I...had...to pretend! To save you from...the Family hunting you to get to me. You wouldn't have stood a chance." He tried to redeem himself by scoffing at her. They all stared at him.

"Worst excuse ever." Jack laughed. "Makes sense for you to say though. God I've missed this, missed you and your lame excuses. I remember when you told Rose that you couldn't take her shopping because you broke your credit card."

"She offered to get Jackie to fix it." The Doctor murmured dreamily.

"And you were so petrified you took her to the biggest shop you could think of, and gave her your prized unlimited card."

"I remember." He smiled. "And I ended up taking her back to see Mickey anyway."

"I thought you were charging the TARDIS?" Mickey asked.

"Nah, I could have gone for longer, or charged in a different time period. Rose wanted to see you though, and her wish is always my command."

"Except when she asks to stay with you. Then you push her off onto an alternate universe with a completely different you." Jack added scathingly.

"With a human me she can spend her whole life with, start a family with, die with."

Mickey groaned in horror. "You idiot. Ha, Doctor the Idiot. The Idiot Doctor."

"Doesn't have the same ring. Rickey." The Doctor retorted childishly.

"That doesn't matter. You're still an idiot. You really thought she'd bring Jack back to life forever in a way that meant he'd save the universe countless times, destroy every Dalek that she could without simultaneously destroying the timelines and yet not have the foresight or smarts to stop herself from growing old without you. The Last Time Lord is an _idiot_." Mickey laughed scornfully.

The Doctor stared at him. "I left Rose all alone in an alien universe with a human me she has to watch die?"

"Pretty much yeah. She'll lose Jackie, and Pete, and Human You and baby Jack-"

"Baby Jack?" Jack interrupted with a big smile. Mickey returned it.

"Yeah, that was Rose. Jackie wasn't too sure, given your reputation and _habits_, but Rose pulled the big-brother-she-never-had card, not to mention losing him-" a thumb jerked at the Doctor "-and they said he was all hers to name and whatever. So she pretty much adopted him. Jackie couldn't handle the early wake-ups anyway. Nobody wants a tired Jackie."

The Doctor shuddered. Amy and Rory glanced at him.

"This is so weird. I've seen you with River, but you were never like this, that was different." Amy said, in her shock.

"I don't love River Song, despite her best efforts- because honestly, no man likes to be taunted that much." He whispered. "I love Rose Tyler, and I have sentenced her to my hell. The Immortal's curse."

"How could you just assume there were no side effects?" Jack growled. "How could you do that to her? How could you?" He yelled the last part, his fists bunched up.

Martha, Mickey, Amy and Rory were staring at him.

"You...actually said it. Finally. And she wasn't here to hear it." Mickey said.

Amy laughed. "Where is she though, exactly? Can't we get to her?"

"She is in another universe. I can't get there, not anymore, not since I lost my people." The Doctor told her, for once (for Jack, Mickey and Martha anyway) there was little visible loneliness and loss in his eyes for his destroyed people. "Maybe if I somehow released the Master from the Void..." He mused.

"Isn't he dead?" Martha demanded. The Doctor waved his hand dismissively in her direction.

"Oh, he was resurrected by some cult devoted to him, turned the whole world into his, and tried to bring the Time Lords back. I stopped him though. Sent them all into the Void. He saved my life, you know? Don't worry, even if I do get him out, he's human now. That isn't much he could do."

Martha glared at him- clearly not mollified, or maybe insulted at his slur on her species.

"He. Is. A. Psychopath!" She cried. Mickey held up a hand.

"Yeah, but so are most aliens, so far as I can tell. Doctor, stop moving off the point. Can we get Rose back or not?"

"Well...oh I haven't said that in a while. Weird." he paused while his companions were glaring daggers at him. "If I can get the Master out of the Void and somehow convince him to help us then he can probably help me build some form of a dimension hopper."

"But if the Vid is what connects us to Pete's World-"

"So you did call it that! Brilliant!" The Doctor interrupted tactlessly. Martha rolled her eyes as Mickey continued.

"-doesn't that mean you could get straight there, without involving this Master guy?"

"That is a surprisingly good question Mickey Smith." The Doctor looked at Mickey curiously who shrugged carelessly. "However doing so may very well destroy both universes. As it is, we could open the Void for the split second needed to get the Master out, him probably kicking and screaming, and get him to help me build a dimension hopper _and _some form of stabilizer."

"And how do you propose we get the Void open in the first place?" Jack asked. He took his feet from off Martha's desk. She glared and pushed him over. As he fell off his chair, he grabbed her waist, pulling her down with him so she landed on his hip, his hands still on her waist. He winked at her suggestively.

"Jack." Both Mickey and the Doctor said, warning evident in their tones. He sighed and let her up, and then threw her playfully towards Mickey.

"You were so much more fun single." He told him and went back to his previous position, sulking. Martha glared again but didn't protest as her phone rang. Amy laughed at them as Martha left the room to answer it.

"So Jack is the flirt, Mickey and Martha are an item and Rose is the Doctor's soul mate?" Amy summed up, her Scottish brogue making it all the more amusing.

"Basically, yeah." Jack grinned cockily.

"And we're using this Master guy to get her back? Anything I've missed?"

"Yeah," Martha said guardedly, causing more than a few metaphorical hackles to rise. "Sarah-Jane just rang me. She somehow heard about the Doctor's visit and wants to show him something, urgently."

He stood up gratefully and straightened his bowtie, ignoring Martha's distasteful glare levelled in its direction.

"Good. Good old Sarah-Jane. Not saying that's she's old of course. Right then!" He slapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Point me in the right direction and I'll be on my way." His enthusiastic grin failed to affect anyone else in the room positively. Jack raised an eyebrow, Mickey folded his arms together and scoffed, Martha rolled her eyes and Amy and Rory looked at each-other as if to say 'he's a git'.

"And what about the Master? You are gonna need some help." Mickey reminded him.

"Yes, but the only people here with the know how don't want to help his return, so I'm gonna find different, more pleasant help. Sarah-Jane comes first though. She never argues with me."


	3. From what I've tasted of Desire

_**From what I've tasted of desire**_

Amy and Rory stared at the mechanical dog as it scanned the Doctor. A middle-aged woman came up behind where it stood in the doorway. She analyzed them all and her kind face slowly morphed into an expression of comprehension. The look advanced even further as Mickey finally got out of the car- carrying all of the Doctor and Jack's equipment. She smiled at them all.

"Mickey Smith. Always a pleasure. I think I remember two of your friends, and of course, that's the Doctor, but would you please introduce me to the other two?" She asked him politely.

The Doctor grinned his trade-mark maniacal grin. "Good old Sarah-Jane." He repeated.

"Yes well, less of the 'old' if you wouldn't mind. I'm having a hard time being a mother to a group of teenagers without them getting an idea of how old I actually am."

Mickey ignored the Doctor. "That's Amy and Rory Pond, Martha Jones, although now she's Martha Smith," he shared a smile with his wife, causing Sarah-Jane to react by hugging the girl, "and you know Jack. Everyone does."

"Congratulations!" She ignored the last comment, beaming at the couples and Jack. "Do come in. Luke's out with his friends, so it'll just be us. That reminds me," she turned to the metal dog, "K-9 could you please ask Luke when he'll be home?" K-9 chimed his affirmative and wheeled off. "Come along Doctor, you will want to see this."

In Sarah-Jane's comfortable living room, amongst all the other strange and very possibly highly dangerous alien devices, sat a Dalek. Rather harmlessly in fact. Mickey was mildly surprised Sarah-Jane still _had _a living room.

"Sarah. Explain." The Doctor growled. She smiled softly and moved past the Dalek- ignoring her friend's cries of protests- to get her previously abandoned cup of tea.

"It's a rather odd story actually, of which I assume you know more than me. Can I ask though, did you used to wear leather?"

Mickey, Jack and the Doctor blinked.

"Um…yes?" He ventured carefully.

"Splendid. So I assume this story begins when you were wearing leather and travelling only with young Rose- who I assume is with the other you? Correct? Good- and you went into a vault owned by a mister Van Statten."

Understanding dawned over the Doctor's strong features.

"You are _that_ Dalek then?" He asked.

"Affirmative! My-name-is-DALEK-1-0-1-1-0!" It shrieked. Its voice was just as mechanical and distorted as the rest of its race, but it seemed quieter, more friendly. "Miss-Rose-Tyler-asked-me-to-bring-a-message-to-you-after-she-saved-me-twice."

"Saved you twice?" Mickey interrupted, completely ignoring the glare the Doctor sent his way.

"She-says-that-on-the-thirty-first-day-of-the-twelth-month-she-will-try-and-open-her-passage-way-device-so-that-she-can-come-here. She-gave-me-blue-prints-so-that-you-can-make-a-matching-one." The Dalek ignored Mickey's question, its eyes fixed unerringly on the Doctor. It was beginning to make him uneasy.

"Talkative chap, aren't you?" He replied.

"I-am-fulfilling-the-favour-Rose-asked-of-me."

"First name basis?" He sniped back.

"Rose-insisted." The Dalek wasn't backing down.

"Dalek?" Amy enquired carefully. She remembered the last time some-one thought a Dalek was tame. It swung its eyestalk towards her, looking away from the Doctor for the first time.

"Can you give us the blueprints now?"

"I have them printed off. As soon as I was sure of Dalek 10110 I did it." Sarah-Jane moved to her desk, shuffling through the papers scattered haphazardly on it. The Dalek followed like a new born puppy.

"Here." She passed the extensive collection of blueprints to the Doctor. Jack read them over his shoulder.

"This is amazing!" He whispered to his friend.

"Who designed this?" The Doctor demanded.

"Rose-did-with-my-help."

"Wow. I remember teaching her how to hack into...places." Mickey said, turning vague as he remembered what he had taught her.

Jack grinned. "So...hacking hey?"

"Don't ask, just...don't." He cringed back.

Martha, Amy and Rory were sitting with a cup of tea each on the couch with Sarah-Jane.

"Should I be worried I'm drinking with the girls, beautiful though they may be, while the other guys are looking at machines?"

Amy laughed. "You are! But you couldn't help anyway."

"Why not?" Martha asked.

"Rory is useless with mechanics. He's a nurse." The Doctor told her distractedly.

"Really? I just finished my studies to be a Doctor. I held it off while I travelled with him." Martha jerked a thumb at the Doctor.

Dalek 10110 spun around a few quiet moments later. "New-message-received."

"What is it?" The Doctor echoed its moments and stared into the blue eyestalk.

"Hi Sarah-Jane." Rose's voice rang across the room, if a bit distorted by dimension travel and being transmitted via Dalek.

"Sorry about bothering you with all of this, but I didn't know who else to send him to. I need to move the date forward to about the third of November. That's in two weeks for us. I'm already all set, but I know you will need some time to get it working on your side. I just want to thank you, and apologise again." She laughed, the sad sound echoed around them before her voice faded.

"Dalek, set the message mode on record. Doctor, trust me, I know you want to talk to our Rose, but she won't recognise you." Jack said. He took charge easily as the Doctor just stood there stunned. "I'll say what you want to say. She should still know me."

"Recording-on." Dalek told them.

"Rosie darling, I'm sure you still remember me, I'd be heartbroken if you didn't, so I'll be brief. We got everyone here to help and we _are_ going to bring you back. By the way, we so need to talk when you get here. It should be easy to build your awesome machine, but to get it done in time we'll need to call in the cavalry. Don't worry though Rose, I'll make sure it's ready." Jack grinned at Dallas even though he was fairly sure the recording only included audio.

"Message-sent."

The void was open and for a moment nothing happened. Then the Master came flying out. Jack caught him while clutching onto the mega-clamps salvaged from the old torchwood and the TARDIS' mysterious depths. The Doctor closed the void straight after.

"Hello Captain. How's immortality?"

"So so. How's being human?" Jack retorted with a frown.

The Master grinned. "So so. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Mickey and Martha Smith, Mrs. and Mr. Amy and Rory Pond. Sarah-Jane Smith. The Doctor." Jack listed off quickly.

The Doctor and the Master held each other's gazes for a long moment before dropping it, making a mutual pact to forget the last time they met and remain enemies.

"So Martha Jones married Mickey Smith! They suit each other well, both being the people left behind. And some newbies. And an oldie. What else? Why did you save me?" He asked, and as much as he tried to hide it, his curiousity was painfully evident.

"We had better show him you-know-who now." Martha advised.

"Who?"

"Let's hope neither one dies. We need both." Amy added. "Besides I like the other one better."

"Who?" The Master repeated.

"Dalek-"

"1-0-1-1-0." The Dalek rolled into the room. The Master yelped and hid behind the Doctor.

"I want my screwdriver! Why has no-one killed it?"

"Him." The Doctor said quietly.

"What?" The Master straightened to stare at him incredulously.

"Him. Dalek 10110 is a him. He's my link to Rose and we saved you from the void to help."

"Rose...Time Vortex girl?"

"Yes. She saved him and gave him a heart and now-"

"She-is-my-friend." Dalek 10110 interrupted the Doctor for the umpteenth time. He rolled his eyes.

"Friend." The Master repeated in disbelief. "A Dalek's friend. Wow."


	4. I hold with those who favour Fire

_**A/N: It's clear that this story is amongst my darker ones, and this chapter does start to show it, so if you are easily offended by it, please don't read it.**_

Rose sat on the bench of Pete's Mansion's back yard. The old friendly, if slightly intimidating, stone fence had been replaced by a concoction of her husband's. It was steel and glass, only stronger steel than commonly found on Earth and an unbreakable glass. She stared at her perfect, smooth and manicured hands, trying to ignore the three armed and emotionless guards standing nearby, and ready to move in an instant. They were the only reason she was allowed out into the garden, the constant supervision. She still couldn't fathom were it all went wrong.

Was it a year ago, when he had imprisoned her family in the long unused cells underground?

Was it a month before that when he threw her to the wall on their cut short honeymoon after discovering her immortality?

Was it the day before that when he almost broke her hand at their wedding, and stared at her so possessively but had shown no happiness at their matrimony?

Was it even earlier, with the late nights and secret projects she assumed were to do with their upcoming marriage?

Or before that when he ignored her after Bad Wolf Bay and her idiotic assumption he just needed to adjust?

When his Time-Lord counterpart left her behind with him?

When the _real_ Doctor didn't save her from the new universe?

When he left her to her death for Reinette?

Or did it start long ago when he regenerated? She couldn't believe that he hated her in his old body. Not the whole time. You couldn't fake those kinds of deep looks, there was no way. She refused to let this oh-so-human version of the man she loved ruin that. She sighed deeply and got out her personal organiser. Turned communicator of course. She couldn't let her husband realise that she had sent help over to her old universe, not if she wanted to stay alive and well long enough for her plan to work.

"Mrs. Rose?" One of the guards tried to get her attention. She turned on her fakest dumb blond smile and spun around to face him. He gulped.

"The Boss has asked for us to go back in. He says he trusts you not to try anything."

She nodded dreamily and ignored him and the others as they went back inside the now cold house. She noticed there was a message on her communicator from Sarah Jane. She looked around to see that she was alone and slipped on headphones before letting it play. Tears sprang to her eyes as Jack's message played and she saw his grinning face on the tiny screen, the limited tech not doing him justice. She couldn't shake the guilt of what she did to him, and every night, when she was waiting for her husband to come to her bed she cried for him. She could still remember when he told her about Jack's curse, what _she_ had done with her misplaced power and love. He took such joy in her horrified face and tears until she had punched him in her grief. She'd been beaten into submission that night, and taken every punch and blow as her punishment. It had almost killed her, as had the beatings every night since then, but she couldn't bring herself to fight against it. She had to leave though. She had to try and fix Jack, to apologise to Mickey, to save her family and to not disappoint her Dalek friend. She guessed the transmission was late in coming through, as she was planning to leave that night, before her husband came to bed. She slipped the samples of her family's DNA into the little machine and slipped it into her trans-dimensional bra pocket. It was the one that she had brought over with her originally, that she hadn't worn in years, not wanting it to wear out. She was ready to leave again though, and if _he_ rejected her again she'd find a ship to travel around the universe by herself.

She was setting up the machine when she saw the doorknob turn and she was terrified. It needed another five minutes to warm up before she could press the last button to send her, her mother and almost-father and brother across the void. She slipped it under the pillow and lay on the bed, pretending to read a book. He slipped in, wearing his favourite 'tuxedo of doom' and dangerous smile, and holding a little tube with a single red button.

"Hello wifey girl." He seemed cheerier than usual. She threw him a look and tried to ignore his menacing approach. He frowned. "There now, that isn't the way to greet your husband who brought you a present. I tested it on those guards you hate so much."

"Did you have to?" She asked carelessly. It bothered her the way he threw away other's lives like last week's newspaper. She couldn't show it though; otherwise he'd kill more to irritate her, like he did for their anniversary.

"Yes. One of them was leering at you. That's my job." He leant over her, ripping the book out of her hands and throwing it to the side. He licked the side of her face. She could feel him finding an excuse. "You didn't use the soap I got you? You know how hard it was find?" He grew red and slapped her face, leaning back. She sighed inwardly and closed her eyes, slipping her hand under the pillow. He started throwing punches at her stomach as she managed to slip the small device into her sleeve without him noticing. It was good timing as he grabbed her wrist with his strong fingers, fracturing the wrist, and threw her the floor. She refused to cry out, mentally counting the slow seconds pass by. He kicked her all over, his blows mainly falling on her back but also on her legs and arms. His leg hit her head, hard and she lost count of whatever she was waiting for. He smirked at her dazed expression and held up his new toy.

"See this my love? I made it today. Look what it can do." He pressed the button and a fiery beam shone over her body, causing burns to follow in its wake. Her mind sharpened and she was able to press the button on her 'toy'. She felt the slow pull at the same time he noticed it and she watched in pained satisfaction at his fury and horror.

"Goodbye my oh so loving husband. Goodbye _Master_."


	5. But if it had to Perish twice

_**Some disturbing imagery in this bit. Sorry, but I had to get something across.**_

Jack paced anxiously. Jackie, Pete and Jack Junior were solid and being treated for various injuries, but Rose was appearing much more slowly. For a moment she flickered and his heart stopped, but she finally emerged completely making him almost wish she hadn't just so he wouldn't have had to see her like that. Serious burns covered her whole body below her jaw and above the soles of her feet. She fell and he rushed forward to catch her, noticing that the burns were completely even, all over her, on all sides, red, blistering and bleeding. He noted her lack of clothes and wrapped her gently in his coat, making sure not to scrape her injuries, knowing how much that hurt. The Master was watching them gleefully, and the Doctor looked like he couldn't decide between being heartbroken and horrified. Jack was stuck in both of them when her eyes fluttered open and filled with tears.

"Shhh, sweetheart, it's okay. I got you. We'll fix you up." He murmured to her. She shook her head, ignoring how much pain the movement caused.

"I'm so sorry Jack. He told me what I did. I'm so so sorry. I don't know how you can forgive me enough to help me now, but I love you, even though I'm your worst enemy." Her eyes fluttered shut against her will and her head fell onto his shoulder. Tears came into his eyes and dripped onto her blood streaked hair. He turned angrily to the Doctor, who was also crying.

"Well you really did a number on her. What could you possibly say to make her think I'd hate her so much as to ignore her when she's like this?"

"They aren't the same person you know." The Master told him, rolling his eyes.

"I told her we were though. Same memories, same feelings." The Doctor whispered. Jack glared and carried the broken girl into the living room of Sarah-Jane's home.

Mickey looked up as Jack entered and gasped when he saw Rose's body.

"Is she...alive?" He asked. Jack growled and shrugged.

"I don't know. She talked to me, but she fell unconscious. I need Martha, and maybe Rory."

As he said that, the two and Sarah-Jane walked in. The latter immediately clearing the coffee table and ran to place a white sheet on it. Martha grabbed a first aid kit and Rory helped Jack lay Rose on the table. Amy was watching from the sidelines, and was quickly joined by the Master.

"She has a fractured wrist and lots of deep bruising around her muscle tissue. Her hand has been broken and it healed wrong. She also has a cracked skull but it's fairly minor. This would be a lot easier if I knew what caused these goddamn burns." Martha rattled off.

"This." The Master tossed her a small gold tube with a red button. "I made it hundreds of years ago. Used it against the Doctor, or tried to. The other one probably rebuilt it and used it when she tried escape."

"No." A small voice contradicted him. "I used the wrong soap. He was angry at me." Rose told them. Jack's fists clenched. Mickey took in a deep breath and the Master stared at the ex-human. She stared back as Martha applied cream. "I should probably slap you for making it. Who are-" she sucked in a breath as Martha touched her wrist, "-you?"

"I'm the Master. I'm an old frenemy of your doctor's." He grinned charmingly at her. She frowned.

"That's what he called himself you know. Was he trying to say you're a human version of the Doctor? Or did he fancy you?" She asked.

The Master choked and Amy thumped him on the back.

"I knew I liked you Rose Tyler." Jack said with a grin. Rose looked up at him with big tearful pleading eyes.

"Do you? Do you forgive me? He said you'd lived through hell because of me, said you hated me, said-" Jack pressed a gentle finger on her lips.

"I love you Rosie, you know that. You didn't mean to hurt me, you just wanted to save me, which is flattering for my ego, I must admit. It's been tough, but I could never hate you." He told her earnestly. All the other girls in the room smiled. Rose nodded slowly. Amy stepped forward.

"I'm Amy Pond. I'm a friend of the Doctor's." She smiled in a friendly way. Rose's eyes flicked the Mickey anxiously.

"She's not a Reinette. That's her husband Rory. And the Doctor is looking after your mum. She'll give him what for."

Rory sent her a shy smile and Amy a slightly abashed but still confident one.

A smile finally graced Rose's cracked lips. Jack kissed her cheek.

"And on that note, do you want to see him? It'll be a bit of a shock, but I'm sure you can handle it. Me and Mickey will even beat him up if you want." Jack flashed a crooked smile and she giggled with a nod. He slipped out the door.

"Where's Donna? And my Dalek?" Rose asked, trying to look around as Martha wrapped bandages around her entire body with Rory's help.

"The Doctor will have to explain about Donna and I don't know where the Dalek is." Martha told her.

"Here." The Dalek rolled into the room and navigated straight to Rose. The Master watched with interest as everyone else decided to leave.

"Hello." Rose said with her brightest smile yet.

"Hello-friend." He replied. The plunger waved wildly until it landed on her arm.

"I want you to do something for me."

"Anything." The adoration was sickening, The Master thought. Rose's eyes flashed to him for a split second.

"Remember what we practised?" She asked cryptically. The eyestalk moved up and down in an awkward nod. At her responding nod a blue light struck her from his whisk arm.

The Master blinked. "Um...Rose is dead!" He called out. In a second, Jack was next to him, the Doctor behind him, both staring at her still body and the Dalek behind it. The Doctor pushed past his friend and the Dalek stared at him.

"Why would you? Why? I thought you were good!"

"She sort of asked him to." The Master interjected. The Doctor threw him an aggravated look, one he was more prone to in his last body. He seemed to act a lot like Ten near Rose, the Master noted. He went back to glaring at the Dalek near his best friend's body.

"You are going to pay for that you curse." He told it.

"Shut up Doctor. He was following orders." Rose sat up and glared at the man intimidating her comrade. "Stop being so obtuse."

He blinked at her. "Uh...how did you know it was me?"

"I've already met everyone else, including your creepy friend over there and you'd be the only person to never accept a Dalek could change." She glared at him and started to peel off the bandages, wincing as her skin tried to stick to them as it healed. "Does anyone have some clothes I could borrow? I think my dear husband incinerated mine." While the Doctor and Jack stared, the Master threw her his jacket and a pair of shorts.

"I've got big pockets." He explained. She laughed.

"You sound like a kid when you say that." She slipped on the borrowed clothes and got up, hugging the Dalek and the Master before slapping him. "That's for inventing that stupid toy."

He shrugged. "Fair enough. I have to ask though, how did it feel?"

"Like every cell in my body was burning." She told him before moving on to hug Jack. The American snapped out of his trance and kissed her on the cheek.

"So little Rosie got married?" He asked.

"Still am I suppose. Never got divorced. But then, he doesn't exist here, so I have an imaginary husband." She grinned.

"Well, you could be married to the Doctor." The Master told her with a cheeky grin. She glared at him, unaware of Jack and the Doctor doing the same.

"I could, except that he called himself the Master. So I'd be married to you." She retorted.

"Urgh, no thank you. I've already had one little blond human wife, don't need another one, no matter how pretty and talented you are." He winked and Rose laughed.

"Can you stop the flirting?" The Doctor groaned. "I thought I only had to worry about Jack."

"Yeah, well as amusing as it is to watch you squirm; I have some questions about what I've missed." Rose drawled. The Doctor looked her over and for the first time, noticed how she changed. She seemed simultaneously more cautious and vulnerable and more confident. She seemed so much more educated, and her slight lisp she'd acquired for their last adventure was gone. Her hair was back to the length it was when they met and she'd lost even more weight, venturing on the side of dangerously skinny.

"I'll tell you my version of events if you eat something." He promised. She studied his face, nodded and looked to Jack.

"Got any chips? Oh and can you go get my mother?" She smiled at him. Jack kissed her hand and retreated. This second he was out of sight, Rose glared at the Doctor.

"Alone. Finally, because as angry as Jack could possibly be, he wouldn't let me kill you." She picked up the tool that the Master used on her and advanced towards him. The Master coughed.

"What if I stop you?"

"Then I'll get Dalek to stop you. I don't want to kill you though, no matter how much pain you've caused me over the last two years."

"Why not?" The Doctor asked, trying to focus his eyes onto hers, but unable to stop them from flickering to her weapon every few seconds.

"Because then I'd be like them, your friend and my husband." She glared at him and he was about to apologise further when Jackie walked in.

"Rose! Oh darling, I'm sorry. Shouldn't have left you alone with the brat." She gathered her daughter in a tight hug, glaring at the two old friends over Rose's shoulder.

"It's fine Mum, really. Not your fault, I was stupid to fall for it all." She rolled her eyes. "I mean honestly, the idea of it was too perfect to be true. Anyway, he's gone now, well, we are and we're safe." She grinned and Jackie sobbed.


	6. I think I know enough of hate

The Master (the new and improved version because everyone knew the Doctor was better, so it was only obvious that the Doctor-Master would reign high supreme) grinned cheerfully as he stepped out of the small pod he used to travel across the universes. His silly wife believed he knew nothing of her plan, and she was right, to an extent. He wasn't aware of the particulars, but she wouldn't be Rose if she didn't have some form of plan. She always did. To say he was surprised it worked was an understatement, but he was a very clever man. Clever enough to know that he had to have a backup plan in case she did get away. He had developed the Multi-Pod –an unimaginative name, but it was a simple little thing- while Rose was planning their wedding. He smiled and tapped his fingers against his leg aimlessly as he walked towards the Torchwood base. It wasn't the drums, he wasn't insane or damaged in any way, unlike the defective Master, nor was he riddled useless with overwhelming grief and misery like his 'Time-Lord' counterpart. He was special and completely perfect. Or, at least he would be when he found his Companion.

"Doctor?" Amy called out from where she was sitting in front of the Torchwood surveillance computers. A man with a bright toothy grin was waving at the camera. He wore a dark suit with a deep red shirt and a shiny silver ring glinting on his left hand's ring finger. The Doctor rushed over and gasped as he saw the image, backing away in horror.

"Amy, get Jack and Mickey and the Master. Tell Jackie to take Rose down to the TARDIS and then come back here with Martha and Rory. Go!" He shouted at her as she paused, and she scurried off with a frown adorning her delicate features.

"Jack?" She burst into the room and Rose looked up from where her head was resting on her mother's shoulder.

"He went to go get changed. Why do you need him?"

Amy couldn't shake the feeling Rose didn't like her. She figured it was because she had a small crush on the 900-and-a-bit year old alien currently worrying in the Hub. She smiled at the older woman and shrugged.

"The Doctor asked me to get him. Something about the surveillance cams. He wants you to go to the TARDIS for a while with Jackie."

Rose traded a glance with Jackie and they both frowned.

"Tell him to shove it up his arse. I will go to the TARDIS, because I missed her and I want to talk to her, not because he told me to, and if he continues to boss me around I might find his secret store of chocolate biscuits slipping to Mickey and the Master." She smiled brightly before storming off in a way that was reminiscent of a teenager. She caught Jackie smiling fondly.

"That's the first hissy fit she's had in years. Good thing too, I thought she might explode. Tell you what sweetheart, I'll go talk to his Lordship, and you go get the others." Jackie left after patting the Scot on the shoulder and giving her a friendly smile. Amy shook her head and marched off to go find Jack, trying to ignore the fact the Doctor's girlfriend threw a hissy fit befitting that of a nineteen year old.

Rose grumbled to herself as she walked down to the TARDIS. Her frown was wiped clean from her usually youthful face as she laid eyes upon the blue box however and she found herself running towards it like she first did all those years ago with a huge smile on her face, throwing open the doors after fitting her key in the lock.

It had changed, and while she wasn't sure if she liked it, it did have a certain charm.

_Like your owner, right girl?_ She thought with a small smile. The welcoming feeling increased and the lights brightened as she ran a hand over the railings with barely suppressed glee. She walked the corridor to her old room slowly and was surprised- albeit pleasantly- to find her door, painted pink and slightly faded with an engraving of her name, still intact. Everything inside was the same, except that there was a covering of dust over everything. She ran her fingers lightly over the garish, overstuffed pink bed as she made her way to her wardrobe. The jeans and t-shirts thing wasn't her style now, but she could use a pair of sneakers. Besides, it was all much too big now. She turned abruptly as the TARDIS lit a small light at the end of the walk in wardrobe and she followed it, feeling vaguely like Alice following an enigmatic rabbit.

Beyond her old clothes was a new collection, of skinny jeans and long, elegant shirts, and stylish jackets, like the TARDIS had made her a new wardrobe by combining her old and new styles. She smiled softly and changed, throwing Jack's warm jacket on over the top and walked out to face her worst enemy and her best friend.

The Doctor frowned, tapping his foot against the desk as he waited upon his very tardy friends. Honestly, one little instruction and he'd been waiting for at least ten minutes. It wasn't like the Hub was particularly big or scary, so they couldn't have gotten lost. He pouted a bit, because that used to work on Rose and he found himself slipping into old habits with her as easily as he slipped into trouble. One and the other were very often the same he thought, but he saw no reason to cease either.

"I know that look Doctor. Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't." He whipped his head up at the dulcet tones of Jackie Tyler- by far the scariest creature in the world, beaten only by female companions when he accidently froze the water, and he figured she'd be coma inducing then- and increased his pout at her when he saw she was alone.

"Don't even try it. I could never understood why it worked on Old You, but it definitely won't work now...you're too college professor." She tutted at him and she put her hands on her hips and began glaring. He cowered slightly before remembering his age and status and drawing himself up.

"I'll have you know-"

"Rose isn't going to hide either." Jackie ignored his attempt at defiance in the way that the mother of Rose Tyler perfected years before he flew into their life. "She's bloody annoyed you want her to, and she's coming up here to give you a lashing soon. I thought I'd warn you."

While he was still cowering she brightened and smiled at him.

"I like Amy. Rose is a bit jealous, for obvious reasons, but she seems like a nice enough girl. Her husband's a good boy. Reminds me of Mick, I have to say, and I am rather glad he moved on with that Martha girl. You did a good job there. Jack seems sad though."

"Thank you for your assessment of my friends. I'll be sure to write that all down for later reference." _Rory is very similar to Mickey though...except he did marry his girl._

Jackie glared. "How does anyone put up with you?" She threw her hands into the air before turning around. "I'm going to go find somewhere to tucker down for the night. Call me if something interesting happens." She threw him one last withering glare before stomping off like the devilish in-law she practically was.

The new Master grinned as he sat down on the grass of an anonymous park as close to Torchwood Cardiff as he could find. He liked parks. It wasn't that he liked watching people having fun and loving each other. It showed him people easily, it was a prime spot for victim spotting and it was fun to see how much they enjoyed life before he took it all away. Before he married Rose he used to take her to the park all the time. She loved it there, before she realised why he went. Eventually the spark from her eyes faded and she stopped resisting him. She never stopped fighting though. She was the ultimate challenge. He could stop her from stopping him, but he never quite was able to make her..._submit_. It was intoxicating for him to try, and he used every method he could think of, from physical beatings, emotional trauma and blackmail. She just didn't break though.

A small child smiled at him, and he grinned back, waving merrily. The child was dragged off by his mother though, and the New Master committed her face to the list of people he would hurt personally. Children intrigued him sometimes, like as the kid turned around and shot a last cheeky smile behind his mother's back.

The Doctor explained the situation to the Master, trying to get it all out before Rose turned up. He really didn't want her to know what was going on. He couldn't even begin to imagine how damaged she was right now and he certainly did not want to add to that.

"So basically my crazy husband found a way to get here and you are trying to stop him. You thought the best way to do this was to _not tell me?_" Rose was leaning against the doorway. The Doctor flinched and rubbed his neck.

"Yes...I should probably explain that..."

The Master interrupted with a wicked grin. "He didn't want you to be _emotionally tortured_. I don't have that problem. So your hubby is in the park. Talked to a child actually."

She paled. "Is it still alive? He has a...thing about parks."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Uh, no, I mean yes, the boy is alive. Happy."

Rose's face hardened and she picked up a gun. "What are we waiting for?"

"What are you doing?"

She hadn't heard that tone in ages. Her husband had gotten angry before, but it was an anger based in hatred and envy. The Doctor's anger towards guns hadn't changed, she was beyond pleased to know, and his was founded in love for every living creature- except Daleks- and a fear for people's humanities. She looked into his eyes and almost blushed like her old self in the reprimand and disapproval she saw there. It disappeared as she ducked her head and the Master chuckled.

"He's human you moron. He'd be easy to kill." The crazy blond man took the gun out of Rose's slack hand. She looked up at _her _Doctor and shook her head.

"We shouldn't kill him. Trap him, trick him, but we don't want to ever sink to his horrible lonely level."

The Doctor's smile was proud as he found himself unable to draw his best friend into a hug. She relaxed for the first time in months and wrapped her arms around his waist. In the background the Master shrugged to himself and slipped the gun into the back of his belt.

"I've passed it." He said to himself quietly.


End file.
